''Venus Peter'' is a 1989 Scottish film directed by Ian Sellar and produced by
Christopher Young for Young films. The film is an adaptation of the novel ''A Twelvemonth and a Day'' by
Christopher Rush. It was screened in the
Un Certain Regard
(; 'A Certain Glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob.
The section presents 20 films with unusua ...
section at the
1989 Cannes Film Festival.
It was filmed in
Orkney
Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...
, in the North of
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. The film crew paid members of the Orkney community to act as extras in the film.
In 1999 Richard Mowe, curator of film at the
National Museum of Scotland
The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, Scotland, is a museum of Scottish history and culture.
It was formed in 2006 with the merger of the new Museum of Scotland, with collections relating to Scottish antiquities, culture and history, ...
, chose the film as one of his top twenty Scottish films of the century.
[Richard Mowe]
Top 20 Scottish films of the 20th Century
iofilm Scotland, August 1999
Japanese rock band Venus Peter are named after the film.
Plot
The film is set on a northen isle of Scotland in the 1940s and follows young Peter and his relationship in the mainly adult world of the fishing village and his relationship with the sea and fishing boats (foremost of which is
Kirkcaldy
Kirkcaldy ( ; ; ) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, making it Fife's second-largest s ...
-registered KY199). The most important relationship is between Peter and his fisherman grandfather.
Cast
* George Anton as Billy
*
Louise Breslin as Leebie
*
Juliet Cadzow as Princess Paloma
*
Peter Caffrey as Father
*
Sinéad Cusack as Miss Balsilbie
*
Emma Dingwall as Jenny
*
Ken Drury as Gowans
*
Christopher Fairbank as Blind man
*
Cecil Garson as Gollie
*
David Hayman as Kinnear
*
Sam Hayman as Baby Peter
*
Scott Heddle as Peem
*
Ray Jeffries as Bank manager
*
Sheila Keith as Epp
*
Mary MacLeod as Miss Sangster
*
Ray McAnally as Grandpa
*
Alex McAvoy as Beadle
*
Robin McCaffrey as Georgina
* Julia McCarthy as Agnes
*
Caroline Paterson as Mother
*
Gordon R. Strachan as Peter
*
Alan Tall as McCreevie
*
Cameron Stout as Bystander
*
Lorraine Buchan as Bystander
*
Justin Kimmett as Little Boy
* Martin Brown as child in class
References
External links
*
1989 films
Scottish films
Films set in Orkney
Films shot in Scotland
1980s English-language films
{{1980s-Scotland-film-stub